Sports

Andover Football Remains Undefeated After Deerfield; Lokitis ’06, Fernandez ’06 Lead Offensive Rampage

For the first time this century, the Andover Varsity Football team defeated Deerfield, winning with a score of 35-21 and running its record to 6-0. Joey Lokitis ’06 threw for two touchdowns and Matt Fernandez ’06 ran for over 200 yards and a touchdown to bring home the victory for Andover. Andover demonstrated its dominance by starting off the game with a long, clock-eating drive, culminating in a 12 yard touchdown pass from Lokitis to Andrew Badger ’06 to bring the score to 7-0. The Andover defense held strong, sticking to its game plan of containing Deerfield to small drives and eliminating the big plays. Following the theme of authority of both sides of the ball, Andover began the second quarter by driving deep into Deerfield territory. A goal line rush from Lokitis, in which a second push to the right side got the QB into the end zone, upped the score to 14-0. Andover got right back to work and attacked the Deerfield secondary again, making for another 12 yard touchdown pass from Lokitis to Badger, raising the score 21-0. Andover quickly got its offensive wheels rolling once again when Will Sherrill ’07 stepped in for Lokitis at the end of the second quarter. Another 27 yard touchdown pass to Badger, his third touchdown catch of the day, and Andover held a commanding 28-0 lead. “Our offense really clicked in the first half,” said Sherrill, “and we only punted once.” Captain Matt Ward ’06 picked off a Deerfield pass, and Brendan Gallagher ’06 and Mike Bourbeau ’06 forced and recovered a fumble, helping Andover maintain momentum in the second quarter, getting Andover out to a crucial early lead against a very tough and physical team. Bourbeau also had a pair of sacks on the day. After heading in to halftime with a 28-0 lead, Andover came right back out on the offensive, and Matt Fernandez was able to break a long 65 yard run to the end zone. After the fifth consecutive successful Bradford Marvin ’08 point after attempt, Andover held the lead at 35-0. However, Deerfield maintained its intensity even after being down by five scores. Deerfield scored first on a 35 yard touchdown pass, and drove for a one yard touchdown for its second score. As the seconds ticked down in the fourth quarter, Deerfield managed one last 27 yard touchdown pass, to end the game with the score 35-21. Deerfield used its long, pounding drives, while Andover used its substitutions. “We had tried to keep Deerfield from breaking out the big play, and we managed to stick to our game plan,” Coach Modeste said. Lokitis finished the day 6/8 for 102 yards with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, while Sherrill completed both his passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. Badger came up with four catches, three for touchdowns, on his way to 62 receiving yards on the day, while the pair of tailbacks, Fernandez and Charlie Houghton ’06, ran for a total of 323 yards. This Saturday night, Andover faces its biggest challenge of the season, hosting last year’s New England runners-up and perennially talented Worcester team that holds a record of 4-1 and has had two weeks to prepare for this game. If Andover defeats Worcester, Andover will clinch a playoff spot. Game time is 6:00 on Saturday, November 5th. The game will be played under the lights at Phelps Stadium, where Andover has thus far had an amazing season, outscoring its opponents by an astounding margin of 100-6.